Fees - How do private practitioners calculate their charges?

I'm amazed at the low fees you seem to be charging. My fee is £45 for a routine half hour treatment, £55 for a dom (favourites only), £320 to £400 for nail surgery. Almost all my patients come through personal recommendation from current patients, local GPs etc.
When new patients ask the fee I'm unapologetic (same fee as local osteopath, physio etc) and advise them to choose their podiatrist by recommendation and not by the fee, that standards will vary. They generally book with me.
My patients are generally very satisfied with their treatment, because I do the very best practice and use first rate materials, silicones etc. I do not generally re-book patients, they contact me when they need me.
I am always fully booked, but also always have appointments available within a few days.
Incidentally, my 22 year old son is a hair stylist at Toni and Guy. He charges £45 per cut, and is on a rising scale according to his experience..
Naturally I use my discretion when treating patients who are not eligible fro NHS treatment and are on low incomes - their fee scale is my decision.
Be proud of your skills, and don't underestimate the value of good treatment to our patients.
My plumber charges an £80 call out fee ...

 

Good for you. At last someone isn't afraid to charge what is fair based on expertise and overheads. How anyone can run an efficient modern practice and earn a salary at least equivalent to an NHS income, whilst charging low fees is beyond me. The public may perceive us as a lowly profession, and may wish to spend more on their hair but that doesn't mean we have to collude.

 

I've just done a costing of my practice and how much money I have actually earned in the last 2 years where I was more or less plucking figures out of the sky/charging what I thought was an amount people would pay. Basically I earned no money!

I've gone through my costs and pricing with a finacncial advisor and I have to charge 50% more than I do now, if I want to make the sum of money that will give me a reasonable lifestyle. I was aghast at this but I would rather see fewer patients and charge more and give a genuinely good service(I am not saying that charging less precludes this) than see a stack of patients every day and make next to no money for a lot of hassle. If we all had the same point of view that we value our service and charged accordingly, I think we would be a lot happier and able to operate in a more professional setting.

I'm not looking to make mega bucks, I just want to be comfortable enough to take a bit of time off and provide for my family and at the rates I am currently charging, this is not possible.

My 2p

Robin

 

Hi David...
How is it going one year on from your post about being in transition?

 

Remember the lager advert (was it Stella Artois?)...''Reassuringly Expensive?''.....

 

Assuming a sole (ha) practitioner is running a practice:
I know this is simplistic but it seems that in order to earn £36k (which is an approximate salary for an experienced NHS Pod with specialist/advanced skills) working 48 weeks a year you need to have a PROFIT of £750 week...
With the additional stress of running your own business it's reasonable to want to earn a bit more than you might in the NHS.
It ain't easy, unless you charge a sensible fee or work a full 37.5 hours just seeing patients (when would you do your practice admin/answer queries etc?).
I've never come across a ChiroPRACTOR who struggled with charging what they need to. As a profession we seem to have a fear of money/success. I think Alex Catto is the guy who gives lectures on this subject.

 

The biggest problem here is actually the fault of the clinician/business owner and not the patient.

You need to educate potential clients to understand value in terms of results and not cost.

Educate your potential customers at the point of contact and they will pay whatever it takes to get your services.

If you charge what you are worth then you'll never be expensive or cheap but to gain paying customers they have to understand what they are getting not what you are charging.

Do this and cost is rarely an issue.

 

All,

:good:

An excellent thread with some downright common sense and sound business acumen being promulgated.

CF

 

£32 for a routine appointment, nail surgery £275-400, biomechanics £295. I have never been so busy. I'm going to put my fees up soon.

Sue

 

Dave
''You need to educate potential clients to understand value in terms of results and not cost.

Educate your potential customers at the point of contact and they will pay whatever it takes to get your services''

Sounds good, tell us more...

 

i love this thread!
im very new to podiatry and have only been working for nearly a year now! i was wondering what over heads are there? i know the obvious ones like stock, renting a premises and bills, initial cost of all your equipment, advertising but what els is there?
out of all you gorse income how much, in a % would be on overheads? just a ball park figure would be nice as i know it varies a lot!

Also my brother is a Dentist, would a dentist be a good professional to team up with? with regards to a private practice!

Thank you for your time!

 

I've worked with a couple of dentists and it does work well if you are sharing reception staff etc.
Overheads include pension, water/electicity/gas,phone, broadband, books, cleaner, cost of CPD courses, clinic clothing, accountancy fees, bank charges, insurances for your equipment (and for you- like critical illness, private medical insurance etc- although these are not allowable against tax), maintainence of equipment..the list goes on.

 

Wow there is a lot of over heads! Thank you for your reply! Is all of this covered in that book, first steps to having a succussful private clinic?
Thank you!

 

No idea whatsoever.
If your brother has a dental practice he should be able to help you.

 

I use the best quality materiLs and instruments available. My surgery is modern ,well decorated and well equipped.I present myself well for work, no jeans, clean White coat etc. My receptionist is charming and very polite. We play classical music and have great magazines - the Oldie, Private eye etc.
My patients enjoy their visits, and I treat every patient to the best of my ability!
In return they happily pay £45 for a half hour appointment and £30 for a fifteen minute nail cutting appointment.
Nail surgery is charged from £320

I work two and a half days a week and earn a very comfortable living.
It is vital to value our skills and be confident to charge sensibly for them.

Naturally I have patients who can't afford the fee and I charge them accordingly - usuLly ten or fifteen pounds, but we keep that a secret between us.

Believe in yourself and our profession!

Ps my 23 year old son charges £45 a cut as a trained hairdresser!

 

...here, here.

I don't charge less if people can't afford it. There will always be someone offering a lower price service and I have my standards to maintain, but that's just what works for me.
However, I believe I am fair. I do not re-charge if someone develops an issue shortly after seeing me/needs an orthotic adjustment etc. I think my personal attention and customer service is 2nd to none.